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Top 15 Times Vince Russo Was Actually Right About The WWE Product

There are few names in professional wrestling that get a reaction like Vince Russo. Seemingly, everyone who has heard of the outspoken New Yorker has an opinion on him, ranging from ECW's head honcho Paul Heyman to the outspoken wrestling mainstay Jim Cornette. The majority of the time, Russo's name is attached to negativity; and whether it's during interviews or videos he posts online, he finds himself one of the most reviled figures in the industry.

For those who don't recognize the name, Vince Russo famously began his career as a writer for the then WWF Magazine before making his way to the creative team. After serving as arguably the top storyline writer for the WWE during the Attitude Era, his reputation brought him to WCW. However, without the human filter known as Vince McMahon, his outlandish storylines didn't help revitalize WWE's main competition. He's most recently been a part of TNA's creative team for a better part of the last decade, while also working under the roles as magazine reporter, on-air personality, and currently a podcast host.

Everywhere Russo goes, controversy follows. Remember, he is not only the man responsible for making actor David Arquette WCW Champion, and later himself, but he is equally credited with the success of Stone Cold Steve Austin and Mankind, among others. Whether you are a fan or hater of Vince Russo, there is no denying that he has some valid points when he critiques the current WWE product.

Here are 15 times that he was right in his analysis of Vince McMahon's operation.

15 PG Rating Isn't A Problem

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One of the most common complaints about WWE for nearly a decade has been its shift from PG-13 to PG. Fans feel like the more family-friendly approach has been detrimental on the product with its lack of blood, profanity and so on. After all, the WWE's most successful period saw them embracing all of these adult themes! Surely, if anyone would be a promoter of that mindset it would be Vince Russo?

14 Use Of Legends

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WWE has a recent tendency to return to the well of popular stars of days gone by. Look no further than their divisive use of Stone Cold, Mick Foley, Shawn Michaels and The Rock at WrestleMania 32. Fans in live attendance undeniably love being present for the rarity but audiences at home either love or hate when legends return.

Why would anyone hate the return of those they love? Simple, every time WWE utilizes a legend they do so at the expense of an active member of their roster.

13 WrestleMania Entrances - Where Are They?

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WrestleMania is the biggest event on the sports entertainment calendar and as such, it is given all the grandeur and frills to make it feel that way. One of the most exciting parts of the experience for fans and talents alike used to be seeing superstars doing something extravagant to reach the ring.

Shawn Michaels ziplining in, the mini-rings at WrestleMania III, John Cena's gangster ride, Randy Savage being carried in like a Roman emperor, among many more classic entrances that are unforgettable for those watching.

12 WrestleMania Cards Don't Matter

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These last couple of years the WrestleMania card has been dubbed "the worst in history," and not many have been able to come out against that statement. However, and most wrestling fans won't want to hear this, the card no longer matters at WrestleMania.

To clarify, the card doesn't matter toward the success of the show. In terms of quality, it clearly does. But WrestleMania has proven to be a juggernaut regardless of what is on the show.

11 We've Seen Every Match Before

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Long gone are the days of jobber squash matches. NXT still puts on the bouts to build their stars without damaging others, but WWE lacks the self control. It isn't just using established roster members are enhancement talent that causes match combinations to be run dry though.

The worst offender is the endless repetition of a match in place of telling an actual story. If WWE is set to have two wrestlers face off against each other at the pay-per-view, they will have those two wrestle each other almost every Raw and SmackDown in the build-up and generally repeat this pattern for a three month feud.

10 Finishers Have No Value

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Russo is far from alone on this point with Stone Cold among the critics of this recent trend, but wrestlers are destroying their own finishing moves just for a one-off surprise of a near fall.

Take John Cena and his U.S. Invitational - every single week John Cena would hit an Attitude Adjustment, and his opponent would kick out of it. His weekly opponent would hit their finisher, and Cena would kick out of it. Both finishers' effectiveness are depleted.

9 Lack Of Vignettes

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It used to be the case that 90% of wrestlers debuting would get a month's worth of vignettes in anticipation of their arrival. The vignette serves numerous purposes - it makes the audience aware of the act's existence, it clearly defines their character and it creates anticipation for when they finally appear.

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8 WWE Ignores The Audience

Vignette introductions are far from the only time WWE fails to consider their audience. Most of the time, they won't even acknowledge them!

There is no greater example than the main event of WrestleMania 32. The crowd predictably rejected Roman Reigns, and did so loudly, as you would expect from around 100,000 booing people.

7 Viewers Need A Hook To Keep Watching

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Traditional professional wrestling has made way for sports entertainment and with that comes an acknowledgement that Raw is ultimately a television show. A basic rule of producing a TV show is to give the viewer a hook to return from commercial breaks instead of channel hopping.

Russo likes to point out that in his reign there wouldn't be a single ad break that wasn't preceded by some kind of hook to entice the audience back. Whether it be the arrival of Stone Cold into the building or the announcers promoting the match after the break, some sort of activity would happen to make the show feel must-see at all times.

6 A Loss Doesn't Hurt

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Modern fans have a mindset that is bordering upon obsessive over wins and losses in individual matches. A single loss can cause an uproar from the internet, and sometimes the crowd in attendance as well, but one loss is not the end of a wrestler's career.

5 Babyfaces Need To Follow Through On Claims

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The ultimate aim of any babyface is to have the fans rooting for them and believing in them. If they never follow through on what they say though, they will not get fans behind them.

For example, a few months ago, Dean Ambrose and Kevin Owens were feuding. After Owens cheated him early on Raw, Ambrose claimed backstage that he would get revenge on him before the night was over. The main event saw Owens as part of a heel group gang attacking Ambrose's friend Roman Reigns, yet Ambrose was nowhere to be seen.

4 Characters Need Consistency And Differentiation

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Each wrestler needs to have their own clearly defined character. You would think this is a sentence that is common sense but just try defining some of the members of the current roster. Once you get past the WWE's buzz words for their stars, you find it is surprisingly difficult.

3 WWE Needs To Show Faith In Their Acts

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Speaking of WWE neutering their acts with weak scripting, the company need to start giving their wrestlers freedom back. Some of the greatest stars and talkers in the history of WWE came from an atmosphere that saw them giving bullet points to hit and a microphone to do so. No script. This sink or swim attitude saw natural charisma shine instead of the current stranglehold. At the end of the day, if WWE doesn't have any faith in their wrestlers to go out with a microphone and capture the audience, why even hire them?

2 If Wrestlers Don't Take It Seriously, The Audience Won't

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This is a basic principle in any kind of storytelling. Characters have to take their scenario seriously or no one watching can buy into their plight. Imagine if the protagonist of your favorite TV show or movie suddenly started making jokes about the danger they face. You wouldn't take it seriously yourself.

1 The Announcers Fail To Tell The Story

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Arguably more than any previous point on this list, this is the most important of them all. The announce team fails to tell the stories being told by the performers. Whether this be failing to acknowledge it, belittling it, or other such sins, this abysmal commentary hampers stories and in the worst cases, completely kills the drama.

Two big examples jump out from WrestleMania 32. AJ Styles could have been protected from his loss by the announcers, if they had simply pointed out that Styles had got caught up in the moment of his first WrestleMania and put too much effort into impressing the crowd - hence going for another high-flying maneuver that allowed the wily veteran, Chris Jericho, to capitalize.

Even worse is the story of Shane McMahon. His entrance showed him to be a family man, as he entered with his children who sat in the front row with Shane's wife and his mother, Linda McMahon. The first story question; why is Linda there to support Shane when he is feuding with Vince and Stephanie? Not even remotely mentioned.

Second, and arguably the biggest faux pas, when Shane is climbing the cell and standing before leaping off there was not a single mention of him taking this life risking move in front of his family! Jim Ross would have been screaming about the ramifications of this decision and how much controlling WWE means to Shane, but not the current Raw announce team.